food for all

food for all
7127 germantown avenue
philadelphia, pa
(267) 297 7122
www.foodforallmarket.com/

type of cuisine: organic, allergen-free take-out
culinary excellence: 8
vegan friendliness: 9
*recommended*

food for all is a lovely little market specializing in products and prepared food for people with celiacs or other food sensitivities. everything in the shop is free of peanuts, gluten, soy, dairy and eggs, making it also quite vegan-friendly. although they do offer some prepared foods with meat, there are always good vegan options on the menu and plenty of inventively prepared vegetables. the other night luca and i got take-out. it was hella expensive, but incredibly tasty and filling. we sampled their bean and millet chili, which was hearty and hit all the right notes, stuffed acorn squash filled with jasmine rice, which had a slightly sweet, slightly smoky taste to it, oven roasted brussels sprouts, which were possibly the best brussels i've ever had - perfectly cooked and generously seasoned with salt and pepper and roasted carrots, an inspiring array of different colored carrots roasted much like the brussels. i also couldn't resist one of those heavenly cookie sandwiches that they get from sweet freedom bakery. perfect with a glass of vanilla rice milk, i think that is my favorite food.

the market is stocked full of interesting types of crackers, spreads, drinks, grains, frozen dessert products (dairy-free coconut bars!) and spices. they even have daiya cheese, which is more than i can say for weaver's way co-op. it feels good to shop in an independently owned neighborhood shop. the owners clearly care about their business and have high standards for it. well done!

trolley car diner

trolley car diner
7619 germantown avenue
phildelphia, pa
(215) 753 1500
www.trolleycardiner.com

type of cuisine: diner
culinary excellence: 4
vegan friendliness: 3

in my search for vegan-friendly restaurants in mt. airy, i came across this listing at urban spoon, naming the trolley car diner as 1 of 4 good bets. sadly, i did not find this place to be especially generous towards us vegan folk. they have 2 vegan items on the menu, but 1 is a bean chili that is only available in winter, leaving only the szechwan tofu stir fry. the thing is, you go to an adorable old-fashioned diner with neon lights, cushy booths, breakfast all day and an adjacent ice cream parlour and it doesn't put you in the mood for szechwan tofu stir fry. you want a burger piled high with add-ons, batter-dipped fries and a ginormous milkshake. or maybe you want griddle cakes or grilled cinnamon buns or stuffed french toast, again with a ginormous milkshake, but you surely don't want a tofu stir-fry! however, given that that was our only option, luca and i saddled up and ordered two stir-fries and some beer. it was not a particularly inspired stir-fry. way too many onions, green peppers and celery, plus cubes of soft tofu swimming in an overabundance of salty, soupy, sauce. it wasn't terrible, but i would have so preferred a veganized version of pretty much anything else on their menu! surely i am not the only vegan in mt. airy who would frequent the trolley car diner weekly if they would only recognize that's it's not hard at all to whip up some cruelty-free griddle cakes or assemble a fantastic veggie burger. sigh. at least their selection of beers is unbeatable. lately i have been enjoying leinenliugel's berry weiss brew, which i'm sure is a sissy beer, but i don't care because it's yummy.

bacio

bacio
311 west mt. pleasant avenue
philadelphia, pa
(215) 248 2740

type of cuisine: italian
culinary excellence: 8
vegan friendliness: 8
*recommended*

the first time i went to bacio, i still lived on the main line. johanna took me there for my 30th birthday and it was a frustrating experience. although the restaurant was charming and served home made eggless pastas with plenty of vegetarian and vegan options, i was bummed that we didn't think to bring any wine, bummed that they didn't have vegan gnocchi on that particular night, and bummed that i was totally full from bread dipped in olive oil after a 70 minute wait for our food:



i realize now that the wait was due to them making me vegan ravioli from scratch. and it wasn't even good! sadly, the chefs are unschooled in the fine art of tofu ricotta (you need nutritional yeast, people!) and cheese-free pesto (again, it's all about the nooch). here's the thing though - don't order some special vegan dish just because they say they can do it. order the following: pasta e broccoli.



this is possibly the most delicious pasta dish i've ever had. the pasta itself is fantastic and the combination of broccoli, olives and capers in white wine sauce is a dream come true. their salty pasta puttanesca is also delectable, but of the two i prefer the broccoli. plus sometimes they add eggplant to the puttanesca and that's just not ok to add eggplant to a dish that doesn't list eggplant as an ingredient.

now luca and i live 5 minutes from bacio and we go there so much that they know who we are. or at least they know who luca is. apparently he has a more memorable face than i do. other items we have tried include the vegan rollatini (not nearly as good as the recipe from veganomicon), bruschetta (excellent - just ask them to hold the cheese), tomato, basil and tofu mozzarella (this is not on the menu, but we were offered it as a compliment one night and it was quite good - i think the "mozzarella" was just nicely prepared soft tofu with salt and other spices - very satisfying), sweet potato gnocchi (so disappointing! the gnocchi's themselves were bland and tasted of nutmeg and the maranara sauce did nothing to enhance it), beet salad (wonderful, an excellent starter), egg-free ceasar (fantastic!) and vegan cannoli's (hella awesome and served with the most delicious chocolate i've ever had). here is an example of a complimentary dish offered to compensate for a long wait time:



so go to bacio. bring wine. bring wine in a cute little wine cozy. it will make you feel better.

fino's pizza

fino's pizza
6784 germantown avenue
philadelphia (mt. airy), pa
(215) 844 1188

type of cuisine: italian/pizza
culinary excellence: 5
vegan friendliness: 6

must thank the good vegans at the post punk kitchen forums for hipping me to this local pizza joint, run by robert moezi, a vegan of over 20 years. moezi is slowly trying to veganize the menu, adding a cruelty-free item every now and then and taking off a meat item. i asked him why, if he is a committed vegan, that he didn't open an entirely vegan restaurant, and he said "i thought i was the only one!" now he is slowly building up a vegan base in the area. here's looking forward to teese pizza, seitan stromboli and soy cannolis!

unfortunately, moezi seems a bit behind the times when it comes to vegan cuisine. from what he describes, he eats an entirely whole foods, mostly raw diet which excludes sugar and salt. so it's not terribly surprising that he's not up on new vegan cheese products (hello DAIYA!), but i was surprised he had never tried raw pizza, like the slices i still dream of from life thyme in new york. god i miss new york sometimes. anyway, what fino's does offer is pretty decent, and it seems counterproductive to complain, given that it is the only place actually serving vegan pizza in the area. (unless i'm wrong about that?) right now there are four vegan pizzas on the menu and i think two veggie steak options that use follow your heart cheese.

i ordered a healthy balance pizza, made with vegan chicken, caramelized onion with flax seed oil, cherry tomatoes, grilled broccoli, roasted garlic and roasted peppers. i chose pesto sauce from the three sauce options - pesto, pomegranate and chipotle:



so excited when i got home after a long drive from bethesda to have a hot vegan pizza in my car and a fudgy vegan treats brownie from infusion! though it was not in the least disappointing, this is certainly not the zenith of vegan pizza. however, in the event that i don't feel like spending four hours preparing "isa pizza" from vegan with a vengeance, one of fino's rounds is not such a bad substitute. overall the flavor was savory and full. i loved the broccoli, tomato, peppers and garlic. the caramelized onions could have been way more caramelized though, and i might have appreciated bigger chunks of seitanic chicken instead of the sprinkling of tiny pieces. i also was a little frustrated with the pesto. it was more like a smattering of finely chopped, flavorless basil than a sauce. i like my pesto salty and grainy with pine nuts, bursting with flavor. don't get me wrong - i'm definitely going to try every variation of fino's vegan offerings and i totally appreciate their efforts, but moezi may need some encouragement from other local vegans to invest in daiya and learn to make lovely nutritional yeasty tofu ricotta. maybe some talented ppker can school him in the art of vegan funnel cakes, too. that would be divine on a friday night.

in the meantime, their fries are pretty satisfying:

tiffin

tiffin
7105 emlen street (see website for additional locations around philadelphia)
philadelphia, pa
(215) 925 0770
www.tiffin.com

type of cuisine: indian
culinary excellence: 6
vegan friendliness: 6

i was hoping to check out the new downtown veg restaurant thoreau last evening, but they were all booked up until 9:15, so luca and i headed over to our local indian restaurant. it seems like tiffin primarily does web-order delivery all over this fine city, but they also have dine-in establishments in northern liberties, elkins park, mt. airy and girard avenue. according to their website, they're also planning to open two branches on the main line. the mt. airy location is small and intimate, with deep orange walls and around 6 or 7 tables. i was a bit concerned that none of the servers knew what "vegan" meant, but they do specialize in vegetarian fare and i tried to explain to our waiter that i don't eat dairy. at first when i asked about yogurt or ghee in the samosas, he seemed to suggest that they did not meet my specifications. but then he spoke to someone in the back and told me it was ok, so who knows? i went ahead and ordered them, along with baingan bharta, or smoked eggplant sauteed with tomatoes, onions, herbs and spices. luca and i shared an order of naan. when the food came, the first thing we noticed was that it actually tasted healthy - not the usual salty, greasy grub served up at most indian joints. the samosas seemed more baked than deep fried and you could actually taste the different elements of the potato filling. i enjoyed dousing mine in the three chutneys - one sweet, one spicy and one fruity. my eggplant dish was not the consistency i was expecting. instead of chunks of eggplant mixed together with the other ingredients, it was blended into a thick but light, textured puree. still, the flavors were subtle and enjoyable alongside the delicate basmati rice. i added just a bit of salt, which brought out the smokiness. the naan was a bit dry and tasteless, but again, probably because it wasn't covered in grease. i will definitely return to tiffin to check out more of their offerings and i'll do my best to find out if the food is completely vegan.

high point cafe

high point cafe
602 west carpenter lane (also at the allens lane train station)
mt. airy, pa
(215) 849 5153

type of cuisine: cafe
culinary excellence: 6
vegan friendliness: 3

luca and i stopped in at both branches of the high point cafe while house hunting in mt. airy this weekend. the carpenter street location is at the heart of the mt. airy community, just across from weaver's way co-op and a pleasant bookstore. it was so busy on saturday afternoon that we couldn't really take in the gorgeously evocative photography exhibit by laurie beck, but we did manage to snag a table for a little while. the friendly barista informed me that none of their pastries or cakes were vegan and that it is "impossible to make vegan crepes", but that i could get a salad or head over to their twin cafe for a delicious vegan sandwich. it is so not impossible to make vegan crepes, but rather than challenge her, i got a house chai with soy milk, then headed over to the co-op for a spicy thai hoagie. this afternoon we popped into high point at allens lane and whispered our requests for grilled veggie sandwiches and iced coffees to go while a bevy of celtic sounding musicians performed for a rapt audience of around 8. this was really an excellent sandwich. amazing combination of veggies, including red peppers, zucchini, artichoke and the unusual addition of thinly sliced and grilled fennel. the bottom piece of herbed and salted focaccia was a little soggy, but i actually liked the varied textures and flavors. one of the best sandwiches i've had in a long time. high point needs to bring in some vegan bakers though!

black olive

black olive
24 east mount airy avenue
germantown, pa
(215) 247 8400
blackoliverestaurant.com

type of cuisine: vegan soul food
culinary excellence: 6
vegan friendliness: 10

another new vegan place has opened up without much of a fanfare - it's not even listed yet on any of the philly veg restaurant pages! going to black olive in germantown made me wonder if i actually have what it takes, emotionally speaking, to open a restaurant. this place has a great concept, appealing decor, good location (just off of germantown avenue) and clearly competent chefs, yet the 5 of us were its only patrons on saturday night. i don't get it. let's hope they're drawing more crowds for their "monday night live" specials or sunday brunches.

anyhow, i arrived with luca, little bear and the hens around 6 on saturday. a young and energetic waitress seated us and set us up with a grooving playlist of miles davis and john coltrane. the dining room had a spare but soulful atmosphere with photographs of african scenes on the walls. our crew ordered a few appetizers to begin: the tomato soup was light and savory with a generous amount of rice soaking up flavor at the bottom of the bowl. the steamed squash plate consisted of yellow and green squash as well as cooked tomato and plump asparagus on a bed of mesclun greens - a simple and fresh starter. the tofu crabcakes had a rather bland taste, but the texture was appealing, as was the spicy cocktail sauce that came on the side. mama hen and i both ordered the seitan steak for our entrees. olive's seitan tastes just like the seitan i make all the time from vegenomicon - nice spongy chunks full of garlicky, brothy flavor and grilled simply. on the side were very straight forward mashed yukon potatoes and more asparagus. luca was going to get the seitan steak too, but then decided on the bbq seitan sandwich after our waitress told him it was their best dish. it was indeed a good sandwich, if a bit lacking in nutrients - nothin' but seitan smothered in a tasty bbq sauce on a whole wheat bun. on the side were potato wedges and some peculiar cole slaw that seemed to have an almost soapy taste. papa hen got the veggie loaf, which he liked, though he found the consistency a bit unusual. i agreed that it was kind of mushy. little bear ordered the pasta salad, a cold ramen-like dish with an assortment of veggies and tofu, and a very berry natural soda. for dessert we shared a piece of german chocolate cake made by the same baker who provides govinda's with goodies. the cake itself was dense and tasty and the inner layer of coconut icing was delish, but i thought the chocolate frosting around the outside was off and there was really no need for that sprinkling of mint on top.

overall, i think black olive is a worthy neighborhood restaurant. the food actually reminded me a lot of my old haunt expressly vegetarian before they closed their doors. i hope this place will not meet the same end.